Chapter 1 Would you like to play a completely real game?

Super Brennan: "Guys, anyone got any fun games to recommend? I've had enough of 2K22."

WhatsApp Group Chat, "Gamer Club".

A new message popped up.

Boo890123: "I gave up on 2K22 a long time ago. I made it to the Lakers, but LW never ran my plays. Screw him!"

Richard 123 (Administrator): "Far Cry 6 is coming out soon."

Super Brennan: "Oh, I have no interest in Ubisoft games!"

Dragon toenail: "I second that. The homogenization of the games make them less fun. If one day there was a virtual reality game like in the movies and novels, I would pay any price for it!"

Richard 123 (Administrator): "Get your grandson put it on your tombstone in 100 years. LOL."

"Gamer Club" was, as its name suggested, a club for gamers who didn't really know each other. Some, according their profiles were from New York, Texas, Alaska and Canada.

They are all big time gamers, most of whom were invited in by other group members when playing a game.

Some were shooting the breeze, and more and more headshots lit up. Maybe they were peeping at their screens, keeping tabs on topics they were interested in.

Affected by the epidemic, everyone became lazy they didn't feel like talking.

Until a message suddenly popped up: "If I could offer you a test for a virtual reality game, would you like to try it?"

The sender was WIC, aka Big Daddy, formerly a very active member of the Gamer Club who was known by many in the group.

It was just that he hadn't been around for a while.

Others stopped chatting, as if hesitating.

Super Brennan: "Has Big Daddy's account been hacked?"

Super Brennan was invited into the group by Big Daddy, and he knows him well. He suspected that the user might not actually be Big Daddy himself, but an online hacker under the pretext of testing the game.

These things happen regularly.

Cool Ass: "Probably, since he hasn't been around for a while."

Richard 123 (Administrator): "Anyone know any contact information for Big Daddy? Twitter? Facebook? If not, I'll remove him!"

Mighty Austin: "Really? Aren't you afraid he'll screw you in the game once he gets his ID back? LOL."

Alfred Loves Chicken (Administrator): "Big Daddy, the only one in the group who makes us fall head over heels with his tech skills. LOL."

No one took "virtual reality games" seriously.

But the "fake" Big Daddy seemed adamant. He stressed in his message: "No one has stolen my ID and I'm not doing any advertising. @Brennan @Austin @Alfred @..."

"We've played a lot of games together, and we've had a lot of fun," he continued. I'll check with you in private, so I can prove it's me, ok? And when you're done, I want to get back to the question. If there was a virtual reality game close to real life, would you try it?"

As Big Daddy said that, the chat room seemed to go quiet.

He did send private messages to a lot of people.

Before long, everyone was back.

Alfred Loves Chicken (Administrator): @Big Daddy Are you serious? Are you working on some novel?"

Cool Ass: "Real virtual reality? It's not VR? When our mind enters the game, will we see and feel the real thing?"

Big Daddy: "Yeah, it's not VR. If your mind is plugged into the game, you can feel the sun on your body, the wind moving, the moisture from running water, and even smell the earth. It's like you're entering a new world."

Big Daddy: "Again, I mean it. The company I work for is working on a virtual reality game and has recently started its first-round closed beta testing. In addition to professional testers, we want to know how regular players find it. I've been in this group for several years, and I know all about your love and ideas for games. I'd like to invite you to join this test. You can click the link on the official website below to make a reservation if you like. To be clear in advance, there is no charge for registering or testing, just fill in the shipping address so we can ship the equipment."

Looking at the messages Big Daddy sent, no one spoke in the group chat. Brennan in New York didn't know if others had already clicked on the website, but he did.

The website looked simple, with a single reservation button against a dark red background.

He clicked on it. There was very little information to register, just a nickname, a password, and a shipping address.

"That's it?" Brennan, who remained suspicious, assumed that the reservation would require him to fill in a lot of real information in order to collect privacy data.

He filled in his nickname and password at random. The only thing that could expose his privacy was the shipping address, but he lived in the school dormitory anyway. He could leave it all up to school if anything went wrong.

"Maybe Big Daddy isn't framing me?"

The idea popped into his head. Brennan shook his head and laughed at himself, then casually filled out the information and clicked on "Confirm".

Super Brennan: "@Big Daddy, I've made a reservation. What next?"

Big Daddy: "Just wait."

In the gloomy cell, Duke turned off WhatsApp as he looked at the holographic window floating in his field of vision.

A few lines popped up:

[Main Quest: First contact]

[Description: You're in prison, and in need of help from the outside world. Now you have a chance to advertise this alien world to the earth, and summon the terrible Fourth Disaster by packaging it into a game.]

[Requirement: Get 5 players to register on the official "Crimson" website and fill in their real information]

[Progress: 6/5, completed]

[Bonus: Game helmet x6, Player Resurrection Coins x10]

"Done?"

Duke breathed a sigh of relief, but the slightest movement sent a sharp pain through his body.

He looked down at himself in the dim light of the torches outside his cell. It was a scarred, emaciated body, crisscrossed with whips that had torn away the linen clothes, revealing ferocious swelling and bleeding wounds.

Stinking wet ropes hung from above, binding his hands and holding him so upright that only his toes could barely touch the ground for support.

The unbearable pain of burning, tingling, and spasms, accompanied by the aching muscles of being fixed in one position for too long, constantly invaded Duke's brain.

But it was also these feelings that reminded him that he was still alive!

"Finally, it's gonna be over." Said Duke with a wry smile.

Two weeks ago, he was a nobody, unemployed. Born and raised in Massachusetts, he had experienced nothing special. He finished elementary and high school with mediocre grades and started working after attending a community college.

And then he was fired by his boss during the pandemic.

Two weeks earlier, he had just hooked up with Lucy and was about to have a great night. But as he took off his pants, he fell off the bed. When he woke up, he was a prisoner!

Fighting back the trembling of his muscles, Duke tried to keep his breathing calm as the pain subsided, so as not to touch the wounds again. Then he slowly looked around the circle of his cell.

It was cramped, about a dozen square feet. The walls were simply made of coarse rock, with no windows or anything to let in any daylight, so it smelled damp and rancid.

"What a damned world! "